Software Developer: Storage

Location: Cape Town, Western Cape

Job Level: Skilled / Middle Management

Contract type: Permanent

Closing date: 20 October 2022

About the position:

The National Research Foundation (NRF) supports and promotes research and human capital development through funding, the provision of National Research Facilities and science outreach platforms and programmes to the broader community in all fields of science and technology, including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities.

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) spearheads South Africa’s activities in the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope, commonly known as the SKA, in engineering, science and construction. SARAO is a National Facility managed by the National Research Foundation and incorporates radio astronomy instruments and programmes such as the MeerKAT and KAT-7 telescopes in the Karoo, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in Gauteng, the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry (AVN) programme in nine African countries as well as the associated human capital development and commercialisation endeavours.

The Software Developer Storage will develop, configure, integrate and maintain the SARAO storage and archive component of the telescope and observatory. They will work with other developers and engineers within the organization to contribute to the storage and archive architecture, its building blocks, as well as its monitoring, operations and maintenance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the construction and implementation of the data storage platform for the telescope
• Develop and implement the archive platform for the telescope
• Contribute to the development of the CEPH solution within the SDP subsystem
• Develop and maintain an efficient data transfer solution for delivery of data to external stakeholders
• Development and integration of the tape library into the SDP archive solution
• Monitoring, operation and incident management relating to storage, archive and data transfer
• Systems engineering, activity planning and management, and documentation support

Key Requirements:

Qualification:

• National Diploma in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (5 years experience)
• Bachelors in Computing or related (3 years experience).

Experience:

• Experience in developing software in Python
• Experience working with the Linux operating system
• Experience with large capacity distributed storage solutions, e.g. CEPH, LustreFS, BeeGFS, StorPool

Knowledge:

• Knowledge or exposure to redundant storage solutions, e.g. RAID
• Knowledge or exposure to tape libraries and tape solutions
• Knowledge or exposure to file transfer solutions, crawlers and batch processing solutions

Information:
The website www.nrf.ac.za provides more details on the NRF initiatives and activities.

Applications:
Applicants should submit a comprehensive CV by logging to https://ess.nrf.ac.za/Account/Recruitment and apply online. Applications should be accompanied by a letter of motivation indicating the applicant’s suitability for the position. The names and contact details of at least three referees should be provided.

The NRF offers a challenging career and competitive remuneration package which is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The NRF is committed to employment equity and redress and the appointment to the position will be made in line with the NRF Employment Equity Plan.

The NRF reserves the right not to make an appointment.

Correspondence will be sent to short-listed candidates only.